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An unnecessary gadget I must have

  • Thread starter swords
  • Start date
I'm not supposed to but I always work on the computer in the dark, and I so want this!


laserkey.jpg



http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Key...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247553661&sr=8-1

Does anyone here have one or have you ever used one? Does it work as well as an actual keyboard (or better-no stuck keys)? Do you have to hold your hands at a specific angle for it work correctly?

It's way pricey but so farout! And also looks like it has big letters like the one I bought specifically with big white letters on black keys (easy to see in the dark) but I've worn most of them off the keyboard and am looking around for a new one. A holograph shouldn't ever wear out so it could be a once ever purchase instead a of new plastic keyboard every year or two. I just wish I could try it before committing!
 
One of the vendors at a vendor fair for a software users conference I went to last year had one. It didn't work that well. It took a lot of fiddling to get it to work. There is zero feed back tactile or auditory - you can set the software to give audio feedback though.

It's ok if you are not a touch typist - if you have to look at the keyboard to type (e.g. hunt and peck). Otherwise it wasn't much better than a rollup membrane keyboard a friend of mine tried out which rolls up to about the same size as the unit and is a lot cheaper.

Just invest in one of the higher end Keytronics lifetime keyboards which have a lifetime replacement warranty and learn how to touch type.
 
You buy a new keyboard every year or two? What on Earth are you doing to them? I've had four keyboards in the past sixteen years, and only because I bought new computers that came with them.
~Joe
 
I think I must need to cut my nails more often or something, I wear the letters off in no time. If I'm not at work (where I do my reading) I'm on the computer. But like when I'm using Photoshop I only need a key or two at a time (mainly CTRL+N, SHIFT+CTRL+N, -, +, [, ] and ALT) and I don't have them anymore. In the dark I just push at an empty space where those buttons used to be. lol!

Home row/touch typing hurts my hands and wrists after a few minutes so I don't use it. Perhaps those newer keyboards with the split apart into two areas of keys are less strain on the wrists?
 
I saw that in a mag about Digital Audio Workstations a few years back. It would be cool to put up mixer function icons on the keyboard when I open my recording software! Wasn't it about $500?
 
Add a 1 in front of the 5 and you'll be about right.
 
How about one that is back lit rather than high contrast painted on? Then you wouldn't have to worry about the paint wearing off, and they're very well visible. I've been running this keyboard for a few years now and really like it... (rather the older version of it.. but pretty much the same thing) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034 I tried to get a picture to illustrate how well lit they are (note it is bright in here lol) so this is the best I could come up with... also... shows I need to take this keyboard out to the compressor and blow it out hahaha
Andrew
 
  • #10
I can type in complete darkness. Learning to touch type in 6th grade REALLY helps when you have to type fast. Also, I still can type with 2 fingers on one hand, and 4 fingers depending on how I am sitting. My mom does the 2 finger thing, and I keep telling her it only takes about a month to get use to so she can actually do fifty words a minute that she is suppose to be able to do when she becomes a nurse.
 
  • #11
If your wrists are hurting you may have some repetitive stress related injuries. Most likely your keyboard is too high or low. You can reduce the stress by raising/lowering your keyboard and/or chair. There are plenty of guides on how to optimize your seating and keyboard positioning.

A wrist rest/pad/support may also help. You can buy these made from foam or gel, whichever you find is most comfortable. You can also try rolling up a small towel or cloth.

Those split "ergonomic" keyboards take some getting used to but many people swear by them. Switching back and forth between both types of keyboards can be difficult (i.e. between home and work).

You can also get glow-in-the-dark labels and stick them on the sides of the keys you need to find. There are also programmable keypads or macros that you can set for one key press for multiples or combination keystrokes.
 
  • #12
I can type in complete darkness. Learning to touch type in 6th grade REALLY helps when you have to type fast.

Agreed entirely.
 
  • #13
Oh surely I have some repetitive stress wrist injuries, sometimes on these busy months I have to sleep with my hands in those wrist braces so they don't bend. Been doing the same job(s) for 15 years. Either fanning through inserted envelopes or jogging feeder paper depending upon which end of the machine I'm on before I walk to the other end of the machine and start doing the other activity. That is when we have work to do anymore. This month we do have work, but next month I'll be back to seeing how many books I can read in a 12 hour shift.

Really Flytrap the custom icon keyboard is $1500? I could've swore the mag said "only" like $489.99... Adding a 1 to the front of that figure relegates it from "maybe someday" to "probly never"! :D
 
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